A critical appraisal of Lewin's Prochlorophyta

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Abstract
Lewin's proposal to create the Prochlorophyta as a new algal division to cover thylakoid-containing prokaryotes producing chlorophylls a and b, but no phycobiliprotein, is considered unjustifiable, because the criteria used appear to be overrated and insufficient to demarcate these prokaryotes from the Cyanophyta. A plea is made to relax the rigidity of the criteria traditionally followed in defining the Cyanophyta in order to avoid unnecessary proliferation of prokaryotic algal divisions.